Ebola outbreak causes heartache for Hobart Sierra Leone community

The Ebola virus has caused Sierra Leone to proclaim a state of public emergency and Hobart local Isaiah Lahai has been affected directly after losing eight members of his family to the deadly outbreak.

Mr Lahai’s parents, siblings and extended family are living in Sierra Leone and the recent outbreak is causing him some concern.

“I’m very worried because I’ve lost eight members of the family presently to Ebola and that’s really worrying me, not for those who have died but those still alive,” he said.

The spread of the virus through his home country is clearly having an impact on Mr Lahai as he nervously sits before speaking.

“Everyday I wake and I ask myself, ‘when am I going to see my parents? When am I going to see my mother? Am I going to live a life to see them or would there be the opportunity one day to see them?’

“Taking away eight of my family members alone is very stressful and emotionally draining me down but at the same time I have to be very strong,” said Mr Lahai.

At first his family were reluctant to share the full details of how the outbreak had affected them saying they were concerned how he would react.

“Initially they were hiding some of the details from me because there were close members within the family that died and they thought if they told me I could be really stressed.

“When they told me of the other death that occurred recently it really hurt me,” he said.

Having lived in Tasmania for the past eight years, Mr Lahai understands the difficultly of explaining the full extent and reality of the disease to those far from the affected regions.

“What I would like the Tasmanian community to know is Ebola is a deadly virus and Ebola is real and Ebola is killing people in the whole Sahara and African region,” he said.